A major three-part TV drama will expose the human cost of the sewage crisis. Channel 4 is set to air Dirty Business, based on the decades-long investigation into England's water companies. Central to the programme is Julie Maughan, mother of Heather Preen, who died in 1999, aged eight, two weeks after contracting E. coli on a family holiday in Dawlish.

Julie is demanding a meeting with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to demand the Government take urgent action on the sewage crisis. She said: "My daughter Heather was eight years old when dirty water killed her. She was a fun-loving little girl who knew only love, happiness and friendship. That summer we went on holiday as a family of four and came home as a family of three.

"That is the reality of what polluted seas and rivers can do to our children, and why it's so important that real action, not hollow words, is taken to end sewage pollution.

"Water companies tried to deflect blame for Heather's death and twenty-seven years later they are still pumping sewage into our waterways. They cannot be trusted to protect our health.

"After all this time, all the government has done is publish plans that continue to protect investors and shareholders, not the children swimming in our seas and rivers.

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"There is nothing in those plans that would have saved Heather. Nothing that will stop this happening to another family. That is not good enough. I will not stop until no other parent has to live with what I live with every single day."

David Thewlis plays clean water campaigner Ash Smith in the drama, while Jason Watkins stars as Peter Hammond.

Over 124,000 hours of sewage poured into England's bathing waters in 2025, according to an analysis of official data carried out by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS).

Meanwhile 1,236 people reported getting sick across England after using the water.

Dirty Business airs on Channel 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday at 9pm.